


" Judge and replicant at Mega City-One"

by duneline



Category: Blade Runner (Movies), Dredd (2012), The Sentinel (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Sentinels and Guides Are Known, M/M, Sentinel/Guide
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-03
Updated: 2021-03-08
Packaged: 2021-03-16 11:21:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,693
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29824170
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/duneline/pseuds/duneline
Summary: Being a judge and replicant is a challenge for Joe/ K in a vast megalopolis.But he also has to deal with the fact that he is The guide for one of the most rigid and tenacious of the sentinel judges...
Relationships: Jim Ellison/Blair Sandburg, Joseph Dredd/ K
Comments: 2
Kudos: 1





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Tarlan](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tarlan/gifts).



"Sentinel and Guide at Mega City One:

Hello, I've been wanting to slash Judge Dredd with a character played by Ryan Gosling for a long time : " Blade Runner 2049 " was a godsend !

In this fiction, the time when Dredd and Joe are evolving is that of the movie " Judge Dredd, 2012 ", mixed with elements of the environment from " Blade Runner 2049 ".

Disclaimer: I do not derive any financial benefit from this fiction and these characters are the exclusive property of their rightful authors.

Chapter 1 :

Joe detached his long, slender and graceful figure from the wall of the waiting room where he was with his trainer and mentor and followed the young assistant to the Supreme Judge into the office.

Not a muscle in his young blond face with regular features showed his surprise to see the Council of Judges in front of him. The young apprentice judge had felt their presence even before entering this room large enough to hold a council.

Bruce, his training judge, didn't mind the presence of the Supreme Council. Even being a Level 4 sentinel, he had been able to feel their heartbeats.

"-Joseph Richard Deckard," began Supreme Judge Hershey, staring at him sharply, "you have been recommended to us by a member of the founding family of our justice system, yet it is said that you are a guide of exceptional skill and extremely powerful psychic powers. Would you be a candidate for a position as a judge-counselor or trainer? »

Joseph Rick Deckard hoped that his dismay would go unnoticed by these confirmed guides and sentinels. Especially when his full name was stated and his exceptional powers were mentioned...  
In the administrative archives, the young blond man was thirty years old, but in reality he had only been alive for three months on this irradiated planet. He had only recently come out of stasis.

Mentally, he thanked Deckard and his daughter Ana Stelline, and his replicant friends for his rebirth at a time when the population was hiding in vast megalopolises and crime was exploding at every street corner...  
Waking up in a clandestine laboratory and being told that the time in which he had lived had disappeared to make way for a society gangrenous with corruption and returned, almost, to the archaic age had made him dizzy during his first month of acclimatization.

But important fact and detail: the replicants were nothing more than distant memories and, above all, a myth.

The silence of the room indicated to the young aspirant that the judge was waiting for an answer to his question. Subtly, Joe tried to perceive the feelings of this council and found that his mental shields had not failed him: No one in the room was aware of his emotions and psychic probing.

"I prefer the field, Judge Supreme," he replied, calmly, his blue eyes fixed on Judge Hershey's black eyes. My status as a guide, combined with my detective skills, would be a great advantage in apprehending criminals without civilian casualties. »

Joe fell silent, waiting to see the scope of his arguments to the board. He knew that his status as a powerful guide could stabilize future aspiring sentinel judges and help them master their senses. Especially when they had not yet met their compatible guides.

Typically, Joe's place would have been at the academy. Bruce, his mentor judge, had warned the young man that his powers would be a potential handicap.  
But the young guide had insisted: in his former life, he had not been allowed to choose what he wanted to do. From now on, he was going to exercise his free will!

Aspiring judge. A way to make amends, after having had the blood of his fellow men on his hands?  
Rick Deckard must have been laughing somewhere up there!

The judge Supreme was about to declare her decision but the entrance of her assistant prevented her from doing so and the latter whispered words quickly, in a low voice.

At that moment, Joe sensed a psychic presence almost equal to his own and, remaining stoic, he guessed that this person with such a strong gift was the center of the council's occupation.

"Joseph Richard Deckard," the Judge Supreme said in a solemn tone of voice. You are an aspiring judge under the supervision of Judge Volt here present. We will rely on his comments for the final decision. 

-Yes, Madam ." Joe said, with a brief wave of respect.

-The meeting is adjourned, ladies and gentlemen," said the judge, rising from her seat. »

…………………………………………………………

Bruce and Joe were allowed to leave the room when a powerful migraine almost made the young blond man stagger and he had to lean for a brief moment against the hallway wall.

"What's going on, Joe?" Bruce asked, calmly, so as not to alert other people crossing the hallway. »

The young replicant took a long breath and closing his eyes, he tried to pull himself together:

" -Just a slight discomfort, he reassured, with a rather convincing smile. It passed. »

Bruce glanced at him suspiciously but said nothing.

"Let's go," he simply said. »

Without a word, Joe followed him on his first day of assessment. Distracted and frowning, he listened to the rules laid out by his judge.  
He couldn't understand the source of his discomfort and being who he was, he put the problem aside to focus on his upcoming test.

………………………………………………………………………………...

Joe, strapped into his judge's uniform, was aware of the furtive glances of the female cadet judges in his direction, as well as the more discreet glances of the male cadets.  
He knew he was attractive, with his blue eyes that changed color with the weather and his emotions, and the uniform was a particular advantage to him.

He was walking down the steps of the staircase leading to the courthouse hall when suddenly he petrified.  
Time stood still, literally, for the young man whose helmet visor masked the widening of his blue eyes, which turned almost green.  
Bruce's words were a distant noise to the swallowing guide's ears:

Two judges had just passed through the hall, one with his face uncovered and the other, a male, continued to list the rules. The young woman appeared to be an aspiring judge and was about to be evaluated like Joe.  
Joe recognized the aura of the telepathic woman he had sensed during his appearance before the five-judge council. In fact, the young woman, blonde like him, turned away from her companion and stared at him with a courteous and peaceful curiosity.

Her companion stopped abruptly and raised his head towards Joe and Judge Volt who had been silent, aware of what was happening.

Joe's breath was taken away for a long second by the other man's intense attention and he heard a click in the air.

Ignoring the glances of the staff, armed guards and other judges in the huge hall, the two men stared at each other, gauging each other and unable to take their eyes off each other.

During his career as a blade runner, Joe had known and experienced only two love affairs: one, platonic, with Joy and the other, affectionate and sexual, with a replicant resistance fighter.

He thought he loved and knew it was desire, but placed in front of this judge, with undeniable charisma and aura, he knew what it really meant to desire.  
A hitherto unknown feeling of the young replicant emerged in him and a desire, irrational and irrepressible, to throw himself into the arms of this judge. Desire that the young guide repressed with sorrow, under an impassive attitude.

But never had the young man felt such a desire to belong to a person and to find, at last, his place in the life of this judge.

A chill came over Joe when he turned his attention to his young aspirant, whispered a few words, and they came out of the courthouse.

Joe saw them get on their lawmasters, exchange words and walk away towards a highway.

Joe's desolation and confusion could be seen in his face as his mentor gave him a compassionate hug on his shoulder.

"It's nothing against you, Joe," Bruce explained gently. It's just that your sentinel is Dredd."

In that name, Joe knew that his life as a guide was doomed: he had heard of the mythical Dredd and he knew that Judge Dredd's existence was dedicated to justice and Mega City One.  
As a sentinel of exceptional stability, he was the only sentinel judge who had never used a guide.

Even if they were compatible, a sentinel and a guide reserved the right to refuse to create a link.  
And that's what Judge Dredd had just done...

Stoic and burying a sense of rejection, Joe reassured his mentor with a nod and they both took possession of their lawmasters.

Joe, straddling his motorcycle, prepared for his evaluation and a life of solitude...

To be continued

Duneline, the 8/01/2018.

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)


	2. Chapter 2

I- Chapter 2 :

The sky was azure blue and the coolness of the morning calmed the tumult of Joe's feelings who, alongside his mentor, his law giver in his hands, secured the premises so that Judge Volt could handcuff the suspects of a bank robbery.  
Kneeling down, the latter murmured insults against judges in general in flowery language and, more virulent, against guides and mutants.

The crowd of passers-by watched the scene, indifferent and accustomed to the violence of the judges' interventions. Further on, a team of nurses and ambulance attendants took care of the wounded during the attack and another team, dressed in darker clothes, collected the bodies for the compulsory recycling.

Joe tried to ignore his deductions as to where and how the bodies were recycled and for what purpose as he had not seen any cattle being raised .  
He repressed an inner grimace of disgust, thinking of his morning breakfast bacon and barely held back the urge to regurgitate his meal...  
He promised himself to be a vegetarian and to know the origin of the ingredients that would make up his future meals. Wishful thinking, Bruce would say.

A terrible migraine made the young aspiring judge stagger and the pain was such that Joe almost lost his weapon.  
Flashes of images accompanied these excruciating headaches and Joe blinked, trying to pull himself together and concentrate on the flashes: he saw Dredd running, in a dark corridor, to escape bursts of bullets and collapsing, his body mutilated by the impacts of the super-powerful shots.  
He perceived, more than he saw, the fear and helplessness of Cassandra Anderson, the telepathic judge candidate, and her suffering under the tortures she suffered.

Burce made sure that all the suspects were in the Justice Department van and approached Joe, who nodded his hand and told him not to come any closer. The judge obeyed, sensing the guide's distress and concentration.

Gray walls with giant, bright letters kept coming back in Joe's mind and he could read them: "Peach Trees", the place where these events would take place very soon!

Peach Trees! Joe had to go immediately to this mega-block to prevent this drama from happening!

Forgetting everything that wasn't his sentry, Joe rushed to his lawmaster and without any explanation to his mentor, he got on his motorcycle and rode away.  
Praying to arrive in time!

……………………………………………………………………………………

Cassandra, watching the suspect Kay, saw that the homeless man was still heading towards the South entrance of Peach Trees despite Judge Dredd's warning. She had tried to save him from a sentence in an iso-cube, but the man had not taken advantage of his second chance.  
She understood him, partly because where could the poor fellow have gone?

Perhaps a stay in an iso-cube would be much more beneficial to him than life on the streets, taking drugs.

Dredd, his mind alert with a deaf and confused restlessness in the mega-block, nevertheless didn't fail to notice the offender. He stopped his walk and began to pronounce sentence when a siren and a voice, repetitive and robotic, immobilized the entire crowd in the atrium and outside the building :

"-War defense system triggered and shields engaged. All the inhabitants remained calm. »

A blinding red light accompanied these words and Dredd's sentinel senses went on high alert.  
The judge heard the sound of the armored front door starting to descend rapidly, and he could do nothing about it, but another noise stopped him completely  
It was the roar of a lawmaster pushed to his extreme capacity and the sentinel saw a motorcycle speeding towards the armoured door, which inevitably descended.

The owner of the lawmaster undertook an expert and dangerous maneuver and the motorcycle, leaning to the ground, slid down the rapidly shrinking entrance.  
The judge got out of his lawmaster, which crashed against the armoured door, and his rider managed to get between the tiny space between the armoured door and the ground, before the armoured door blocked all exits and entrances.

The force, combined with the speed of the motorcycle, sent the young newcomer to the wall opposite the entrance.  
His fall brought a groan of pain to the young man who got up, with difficulty, a hand on one side of his helmet.

Cassandra saw blood running down his cheek and at his aura, she recognized Joe, Dredd's unofficial guide.

"Hello!" Fit Joe, with a smile full of bravado against Cassandra who was watching him, perplexed and intrigued.

But his eyes did not leave Judge Dredd's impassive face. Judge Dredd already knew who he was, by the unique rhythm of his heartbeat and the smell of Joe.

Joe felt Dredd's contempt for his earlier action more than he saw it, and Cassandra felt compassion for the young guide who, despite his detached attitude, did not show his disappointment at his sentinel's reaction.

"It was a stupid action," commented Dredd in his deep, impersonal voice. You would have been more useful to us on the outside than on the inside. Now there are three of us trapped in this block. »

Joe heard Dredd's unsaid words: Dredd had to manage a dangerous situation with an inexperienced rookie and now he was responsible for Joe's life, the guide he had turned down.

Rejecting his sense of being too much and a burden to Dredd, Joe followed these two companions into the atrium.

To be continued

Duneline, 11/01/19.

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)


	3. Chapter 3

III-Chapter 3 :

Joe hesitated between relief, fear or gratitude because being locked in a block, with no escape routes and no means of communication with the central, and being chased by Ma-Ma's clan, prevented him from feeling bitterness, a little jealousy and sorrow at the displayed indifference of his sentinel Dredd.

The senior judge, true to his reputation where duty came first, only spoke with his student Cassandra Anderson, asking her to take the initiative when confrontations with gang members took place.  
He was completely unaware of Joe's presence, who simply followed and helped them neutralize their pursuers.  
But his impassive demeanor and mental shields didn't fool young Anderson, who sometimes gave him looks of apology when Dredd chose to speak only to her.

Joe reassured her with imperceptible smiles of gratitude and decided that he liked the young telepath.  
In spite of the dangerous situation, the young guide was bluffed and fascinated by Dredd's professionalism, efficiency, composure, and unfailing mastery, and he sometimes, without realizing it, admired the tall, slender silhouette of his sentinel judge.

Dredd was the epitome of desire for Joe who wondered if he was a bit of a masochist! It was clear that his sentinel wanted nothing to do with him but he couldn't stop having fantasies about this body that was supposed to be supple, athletic and beautiful.

From the little that Joe could perceive Dredd's features, he guessed that the judge's face was virile and attractive and the pout of his lips, very expressive, was adorable and eatable...

The sight of Dredd's exasperated pout took Joe's mind off his thoughts and made him refocus on their situation.  
As Cathy, the young woman they had taken refuge with, had said, the elevator had taken them to the 76th floor.

Joe, looking at the dilapidated and tagged walls, realized that the apartments were slums and thought of the comfortable housing that the Justice Department had provided for him: he considered himself very lucky.

Suddenly, Dredd stopped and, looking around, took a sharp look in the direction of the hallway they were heading down.  
With a rattling sound, solid iron bars fell from the ceiling and barred the only way out.

……………………………………………………………………………..

Joe felt his sentinel's concern and helplessness because without a way to cut the bars, they were perfect targets for an attack.  
But what worried Dredd the most was that, as Cassandra had observed, the clan knew where the judges were and were at their mercy.  
And no attack seemed to be on the horizon. What was Ma-Ma up to?

-"Deckard, come with me," Dredd said in a professional tone. Anderson, go back to the elevator with the prisoner: the place is a fallback shelter in case of an assault. »

Joe exchanged a haggard glance with Cassandra when he heard the judge's suggestion that he should reserve his last bullet so as not to be captured alive by the clan.  
He vowed to do everything in his power to prevent her from reaching that desperate end. With a small nod to Anderson, he followed Dredd through the halls.

The locals barricaded themselves in their homes, locking themselves in, and Joe sensed their fears and uncertainties about what the clan was up to. He felt their hostility towards Dredd and himself because civilians blamed them for Ma-Ma's violence.

Clarity warned Dredd and Joe that they were approaching their destination. The two men hid in the corner of a wall and glanced briefly in the direction of the opposite gallery.  
What they saw alerted them: Machine guns, with armour-piercing bullets, were being mounted by members of the clan and among them were Ma-Ma and Caleb, his right arm.

Obviously, Ma-Ma, exasperated by the judges' tenacity to survive when there were only three of them, had decided to use all the means at her disposal.  
Joe's blood froze in his veins when he saw again the flash of light when Dredd collapsed, his body pierced with bullets.

"Oh, shit! exclaimed Dredd, before running away. Let's fall back! »

The two men began to run down the corridors, turning back the moment Ma-Ma gave the order:

"Fire! »

…………………………………………………………………………………..

The bullets whistled, narrowly missing the unfortunate inhabitants of this level: they perforated the walls, doors and chains and the makeshift barricades did not prevent them from wreaking havoc.

The terror, suffering and desperation of the families assaulted Joe, whose shields were lowered because the young aspirant was more concerned with avoiding deadly projectiles than maintaining his shields.

A blast threw Dredd against the hallway wall, and flames, hot and blinding, mixed with the violence of the impact overwhelmed the senses of the senior judge, who collapsed to the ground.  
The sentinel's vision darkened for a second, but one second when for Joe, time stood still.

Joe's frustration, rage, disappointment, and terror suddenly erupted, sending out ultra-powerful waves that, like a tsunami wave, blew out windows and deflected the bullets that were to riddle Dredd.  
The wave of energy, unfolding from Joe's mind, drew from deep within the young man's unconscious mind and for long minutes there was silence around the two judges.  
A bubble protected the two men and Dredd, on the ground, did not take his eyes off his guide, impassive.  
But Joe perceived his astonishment before he collapsed, on the verge of fainting. The sound of the gunfire reached Dredd's ears before the bullets hit them, and the sentry grabbed Joe by the hand and dragged him after him.

Dredd joined Cassandra and their suspect, stooping to avoid the bullets that would inevitably destroy their shelter.

Noticing a streak of light coming from the wall opposite their shelter, the sentry blew up the wall, revealing an escape route to the outside.

"We're jumping," ordered Dredd, who, taking Joe with him, jumped through the hole.

Joe, through exhaustion, felt a sharp pain in his shoulder and some fresh air.

…………………………………………………………………………….

The young guide came back to him, leaning against a roller skateboard field and shivering, he realized that he was outside the block, on a high play deck.

Intrigued, frigid and frightened teenagers stared at him while the young guide gratefully and happily breathed in fresh night air.  
The city lights and the tall silhouettes of the other blocks, looming in the darkness of the night, distracted Joe from Cassandra as she applied first aid to his injured shoulder.

He gave the young telepath a thank-you smile and looking up, he noticed that Dredd, standing back, next to the fainting suspect, was watching him without a word.

Nothing was clear from the thoughts of the sentry who, turning away from Joe, assessed the situation.

"We have to go back inside," he said, moving away from the guide and the telepath. Reinforcements will arrive, but we need to secure a defensive location. »

Joe, with the help of Cassandra, still tired from the deployment of his psychic energy, got up and followed, with measured steps Dredd.

……………………………………………………………………………………..

Sitting on the floor of a classroom, Joe was watching Dredd's tough interrogation of the suspect: Seeing him go wild, being brutal and violent should have put Joe off, but he could only find his sentinel sexy and irresistible.  
Cassandra suggested that she could read Kay and Dredd's thoughts, so she went to stand guard by the front door and let her do so.

With his mind fogged by a welcome, though disturbing, torpor, Joe welcomed the sensation and closing his eyes, he didn't struggle with the unconsciousness that was overpowering him...

Feeling a look at him, he realized that he had gone into a healing trance, demanded by his battered body and exhausted mind, and he saw that Cassandra and Dredd's attention had been focused on him.

"I'm going to stay here," Joe proposed firmly. I'm going to be dead weight to you. I'll hide my presence. »

He had added this clarification to allay Cassandra's concern when she looked at Dredd.  
The latter approved with a pout.  
A bitterness without name seized Joe in front of Dredd's easy acceptance of his proposal.  
The sentinel judge, however, was hesitant.  
With a resigned smile, the young guide removed his remaining ammunition and handed it to Dredd:

" You'll have more use for it than I will," Joe said, staring Dredd in the face.

Cassandra, shocked and taken aback, was about to protest, but she remembered her place as an aspiring student and said nothing when Dredd took Joe's ammunition and walked out of the classroom with the gun in her hand.

"Let's go, Anderson. "the judge ordered, without looking back.

The young telepath took one last look at Joe, who had gone into a trance and obeyed his superior.

…………………………………………………………………………………………

As his shields weakened, Joe was assailed by negative emotions, full of despair, cries of pain and suffering and disillusionment with life and humanity itself.

Overwhelmed by all this, Joe wondered if his profession was not futile: why bring order and justice if people had lost hope in the future and in the future of humanity.

What did the future hold for them, other than a life in a cursed city and on a planet ravaged by radiation?

Where could they escape to? Where to flee? To other megalopolises where the law of the strongest reigned, where overpopulation only guaranteed a life of misery?

The young guide groans under the migraine caused by the negativity of the emotions of the inhabitants of Mega-City One.

Suddenly, small glimmers glowed through all this despair and Joe's spirit, like a moth attracted by the light, clung to it.  
The young guide saw the satisfaction of a baby for having eaten, the happiness of a mother for being able to help ease its hunger, the joy of hugging a surviving loved one, and the tenacious hope of teenagers in love and friendship ...

Simple joys that brought a balm to Joe's tortured mind that he understood the joy of being alive.  
The young man knew why he was fighting crime: by his actions, he guaranteed these small joys to the citizens of Mega-City One.

He had failed his fellow men once, but he would not fail Mega-City One and its sentinel.

A serenity brought a smile to Joe's face and a breeze caressed his features. A scent of flowers helped to broaden his well-being.

A perfume of flowers?

Intrigued, Joe opened his eyes and trees, immense and with the luxuriant leaves, were discovered under his astonished glance.

"Welcome to the paradise of guides and sentries! "said a warm and enthusiastic voice.

To be continued

Duneline, 15/01/19


	4. Chapter 4

IV- Chapter 4 :

Joe, standing, was examining the dense, abundant vegetation and the waterfall that fed a small lake: he had only seen this landscape in old archives dating before and after the "black out" of his time when he was a blade runner.

A fragrant breeze saw his blonde locks flying and the young man realized that he no longer had his helmet on but was still dressed in his judge's uniform.  
He looked up to a clear sky and his expression marvelled at the birds flying among the white clouds.

A feeling of serenity, fullness and peace filled Joe's soul as he decided to give his attention to the two men standing in front of him.

One, with curly brown hair and a tanned complexion, was visibly a guide and had a warm smile on his face.  
The other, tall, muscular and military in attitude, stared at him calmly, with kindness.  
What came out of this guide and sentInel was an unconditional acceptance of Joe and an immense benevolence.

"Am I dead? "asked Joe, addressing the young guide.

The dark-haired young man smiled, slightly embarrassed and guilty, before shaking his head:

No, you're not," he replied, seriously. At least not yet. You have drawn a lot from your psychic abilities and that has exhausted your body and mind. Your animal spirit brought you here to try to save you. I'm Blair, actually, and this is Jim, my sentinel. »

Jim greeted him briefly with a nod, and as he approached Joe, he examined him attentively, a worried expression on his face.  
Joe, perplexed, didn't interrupt him and looking around, he saw a tiger with a beautiful white coat that was quietly watching him.  
He felt the connection to the white tiger and guessed that it was his animal spirit: he smiled, soothed by the presence of his totem animal.

The tiger then moved forward and stood at Joe's feet and he bent down to caress it. The animal closed its eyes and emitted a purr of contentment.  
The young guide smiled an amused smile. He forgot about Jim and Blair as he concentrated on caressing his tiger's coat.

"That's what I was afraid of," Jim said as he finished his examination of Joe. You've been poisoned and should have been dead by now. The fact that you are a replicant has slowed the effect of the poison on your body. Every time you use your powers, you accelerate the effect of the poison. »

Shocked, Joe stopped stroking his guide animal.

"It's not possible," he whispered, in denial. I haven't eaten or drunk since breakfast. Why would anyone want to poison me? »

…………………………………………………………………………………………..

Jim, without saying anything, took Joe's gloved hand and held it up to his nose. The certainty was on his features.

"A poison administered through the skin," he said in a convinced voice. Did you leave your lawmaster unattended for a moment? »

Joe searched through his memories and the arrest of the bank robbers came to mind. He remembered seeing a casual passer-by admiring his motorcycle: at the time, the young guide hadn't paid much attention to it, but now, digging through his memories, he remembered seeing him touch the handlebars of his lawmaster.

"Yes, during an intervention, Joe confirmed, calling himself mentally a moron. How could I have been so naive and reckless?! »

Blair put a soothing hand on his shoulder and gently led Joe to the small clear water lake.

You're in the jungle of guides and sentinels," Blair explained, urging Joe into the water. This water should cure you of this poison and rejuvenate you, physically and mentally. »

With a confidence that Blair found touching, Joe obeyed and dove into the clear, cool water of the lake.  
On the shore, his tiger, lying on the grass, was basking in his gaze.

Joe felt reinvigorated and fully resourced: the pleasure of soaking in fresh, pure water and basking in it, with peace of mind. Forgetting his pain, his disappointment and getting lost in the contemplation of a beautiful jungle...

"You can choose to stay here," Blair suggested, hesitantly. Dredd reminds me a lot of Jim when we first met: Jim wanted nothing to do with me. A real badass, my sentinel! Like Dredd...

-But he is the law incarnate," Jim ends, approaching the two guides. He has grown up and lives in a very hard time where any weakness can be costly. It seems to me that there is a very slim chance that Dredd will accept a guide and a partner in his life. »

Jim and Blair's words only confirmed what Joe already knew. An embarrassed silence fell between the three men.

Joe thinks, calmly. He thought about the deal between Cassandra and Dredd, about their abilities as judges, and had no doubt that they would get out of the hunt for Ma-Ma, win and achieve their goal: the arrest of Ma-Ma and put an end to the slo-mo trade.

No, Dredd and Cassandra did not need him. Joe had fulfilled his duty as a guide and had saved his sentinel. From now on, he had to move on...

In the jungle, he was accepted and at peace with himself. He had to recognize that he longed for rest and tranquility.  
With Blair, Jim, and the old guides and sentinels, he would never experience such a sense of wholeness and acceptance somewhere else.

………………………………………………………………………………………………

Joe was about to give his decision to Blair who was staring at him, waiting for him when a searing pain came over him.  
Bubbling rage, helplessness and suffering came over him and Joe knew that these were Dredd's emotions.

The young guide left the lake, suddenly entering a trance and wishing, with all his soul, to return to his physical body.

"Farewell, Joe," he heard, before leaving this place of peace and gentleness.

He waved his hand to Blair and Jim and, opening his eyes, he saw himself again in the classroom. Without wasting any time, he explored, psychically, the block and finally connected with Dredd's mind.

Through the eyes of his sentinel, Joe saw another judge pointing at Dredd from his lawgiver and Joe was furious when he realized that Ma-Ma had bought judges and that this Lex was going to finish off his sentinel.

He searched for Cassandra's aura, located her very close to where Dredd was lying, and communicating with the young telepath, he urged her to hurry and guided her to the right room.

Dredd was on the verge of unconsciousness with a bullet wound and was about to be coldly executed by a crooked judge.  
A bubble of gentleness and quietness invaded him and pulled his mind out of unconsciousness. The pain left him enough for the sentinel to pull himself together and say to Lex :

"-Wait. »

This simple word had the gift to irritate Lex who launched into a big speech before collapsing under Cassandra's fire.

Joe took on Dredd's suffering when he administered first aid and tired of his efforts, the young guide fainted.

………………………………………………………………………………………..

Ma-Ma had been judged and executed by Dredd and his clan had been completely dismantled.  
In the elevator that brought them back to the Atrium, Joe looked indifferent and impassive as he screamed out in rage, despair and pain.

Dredd was treating Cassandra, whose pain was clouding the young telepath's mind. Forgetting Joe, Dredd and Cassandra exchanged a long glance and resignation seized Joe in front of their complicities, the obvious respect for each other and the gesture of humanity which Dredd showed towards Cassandra.

Hope gave up on Joe when he heard Dredd, so uncompromising and straddling the rules, tell Judge Hershey that Anderson had passed her exam when she had returned her plaque, convinced that she had failed.

Her mentor and friend walked towards the young guide who, proudly and with dignity, stood in front of the south entrance to Peach Trees.  
His body betrayed him as Judge Volt approached and had to grab him in his arms.

"- Medic! " Appela Bruce, worried about Joe's silence as he clung to him.

His forces abandoning him, feeling the ravages of the poison on his exhausted body beyond words, the young guide, distraught and delirious, took off Bruce's helmet and his own in a desperate and feverish gesture.

Placing his forehead against Judge Volt's, he whispered the ritual phrases to create a bond:

"Sentinel. »

Bruce, surprised but seeing Joe's distress, put his hands on the burning hands of his pupil and friend and replied:

"-Gui... »

The judge could never complete the bonding ritual because a rumble was heard and a tremendous force sent Bruce away from Joe.

Joe, in a moment of lucidity, realized that he was in Dredd's arms who held him against him, possessive and protective.

Tears of relief, joy, and completeness streamed down Joe's cheeks as he projected his thoughts to his sentinel, sensing his future demise:

"Dredd," Joe moaned, before convulsing and struggling to remain conscious. Sentinel...Dredd, poison! Help me! »

Dredd's jaw tightened and a determination, mixed with pure rage, showed on the sentinel's face when Joe convulsed, one last time, in his arms before exhaling his last breath.

To be continued.

Duneline, the 16/01/19.


End file.
